Student Appeals Regarding Grading
The
faculty of the College establishes course requirements and performance
standards. Faculty evaluation of students’ academic performance
is a qualitative judgment and is expressed through the submission
of final course grades to the Registrar at the close of each
semester.
In those instances where a student wishes to appeal a course
grade, the student should take the following steps:
No later than the semester following the one in which a grade
is received, a student must bring his or her appeal to the attention
of the faculty member. Both should make good faith efforts to
share viewpoints and mediate differences of opinion.
If it is mutually agreed that a grade readjustment is warranted,
the faculty member forwards a Change of Grade Request, including
explanatory reasons, to the director of the academic unit which
sponsored the course.
If a student and faculty member cannot reach a mutual agreement
and a student wishes to pursue a grade appeal, the student must
present a written appeal, including pertinent course materials
or course work, to the dean of the academic unit which sponsored
the course in question.
The dean will confer with the student and faculty member, jointly
or independently, as he or she sees fit, review pertinent documents
and course materials, and confer with other faculty or administrative
staff members as appropriate.
If it is mutually agreed that a grade change is warranted, the
dean will forward a faculty-endorsed Change of Grade Request
with explanatory reasons, to the Office of the Vice President
for Academic Affairs.
If the dean renders an opinion which does not support the student’s
grade appeal, the student may request the dean to make his or
her judgment available in writing.
If a student feels his or her appeal has not been satisfactorily resolved at the unit level, a written grade appeal must be forwarded to the Office of the Provost. The Provost or his/her designee will consider only those grade appeals which have previously received full deliberative discussion at the faculty and dean level.
After conferring with the student and faculty member and reviewing the pertinent documentation, the Provost or his/her designee may take one of the two following actions:
(a) approve or decline the student's grade appeal: or
(b) request that the Committee on Academic Standards and Procedures review the appeal and render a recommendation to the Provost or his/her designee who, in turn, will advise the student of his/her final recommendation.
In both step (a) and (b), the recommendation of the Provost or his/her designee is final.
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